Taylor Swift Brings Style, Skill to The Giver

Taylor Swift is back on the silver screen in The Giver, which premiered in New York City on Monday night (Aug. 11). Wearing a lovely, dual-toned gown by Monique Lhuillier, she walked the red carpet at the Ziegfeld Theater, posing for photos with co-stars Brenton Thwaites, Katie Holmes, Odeya Rush and Cameron Monaghan. Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep also lend their star power to the dramatic film, which opens Friday.

Based on the 1993 novel by Lois Lowry, The Giver is the story of a society that entrusts its collective memory to one Receiver, thus eliminating a wide range of emotions from its citizens. Swift plays the small role of Rosemary, who was once a Receiver. In one scene with Bridges, she appears as a dark-haired apparition who plays piano. Bridges’ role is the Giver, while Thwaite portrays Jonas, the newest Receiver.

Holmes portrays Jonas’ mother, while Streep has been cast as the Chief Elder, playing a part that was expanded for the movie. The Giver was filmed in Capetown, South Africa.

During an appearance at Comic-Con in July, Bridges praised Swift’s ability.

“Taylor was terrific,” he said.
“Our scenes we had together — a lot of the scenes were at the piano, so both being lovers of music, we talked a lot of music and got to pick a little bit between set-ups.”

“She’s a very soulful, interesting young woman, and we had this very out-of-the box idea that maybe it would make sense that she could be our Rosemary,” Silver said. “And she’s fantastic. I’ve spent a lot of time with her, and she had just been looking to dip her toe slightly in acting …

“She was interested, we were interested,” Silver added. “It was one of things that was timing and just happened.”